I have searched many many links in this forum on balljoints and there are those who say you can hammer the ball joint out of the steering knuckle. And there are those who take them to a dealer or use a press.

I want to take a poll to see how people got their ball joint out of the steering knuckle.

And I prefer to only hear from those who actually replaced their ball joints.

 

air hammer FTW

 

you can hammer it out, but DO NOT hammer it back in, you will damage it and it will wear out prematurely. Even with a brass drift it will damage it. Get a ball joint press or take your knuckle off and take it to a shop with a press to press in the new one.

 

Here's what you do, it works like a charm.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=887859

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by biggee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can hammer it out, but DO NOT hammer it back in, you will damage it and it will wear out prematurely. Even with a brass drift it will damage it. Get a ball joint press or take your knuckle off and take it to a shop with a press to press in the new one.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I hammered it out. Just like biggee said "DO NOT hammer it back in..." Take it to a shop to get it press in. But I used a bench bench vise to press mine back in, using a block of wood and a large socket (wood--&gt;ball joint--&gt;knuckle--&gt;socket). Works for me (it was on a Sunday and there were no place to get it press).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlackHXCoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here's what you do, it works like a charm.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=887859</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks but no thanks. I plan on using a pickle fork since I plan on replacing the ball joint and I don't care if I rip the boot. I tried that method before and it didn't work. You need specific kind of ratchet with a square handle. Mine is rounded and it slips out.

But really, if you read my post, I need to know if you hammered your ball joint out of the knuckle. You showed me how to separate the lower control arm which is trivial and not what I asked for.

 

Hammer old out. Next, place new balljoint in freezer. In meantime, use propane handheld torch and heat up steering knuckle where the ball joint goes. After about 20 min of balljoint in freezer pull it out and and put straight into heated knuckle... YOU MUST ACT FAIRLY QUICK... so get all your ducks in a row. It will slip in, and now you have a new ball joint in. One the balljoint is in and has expanded.. you are all set. I know this works.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Z3120 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I hammered it out. Just like biggee said "DO NOT hammer it back in..." Take it to a shop to get it press in. But I used a bench bench vise to press mine back in, using a block of wood and a large socket (wood--&gt;ball joint--&gt;knuckle--&gt;socket). Works for me (it was on a Sunday and there were no place to get it press).</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for that info. I might use a tool just like this one for pressing it in.


That's if I can hammer it out. If I can't hammer it out, then I'll just take the knuckle to Honda and have some piece of mind.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dpkelly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I plan on using a pickle fork</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good luck with that...

bash the joint out with a hammer...its free...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by p00n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hammer old out. Next, place new balljoint in freezer. In meantime, use propane handheld torch and heat up steering knuckle where the ball joint goes. After about 20 min of balljoint in freezer pull it out and and put straight into heated knuckle... YOU MUST ACT FAIRLY QUICK... so get all your ducks in a row. It will slip in, and now you have a new ball joint in. One the balljoint is in and has expanded.. you are all set. I know this works.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for that advice. I saw that advice on another post. Glad to know it works!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Good luck with that...

bash the joint out with a hammer...its free...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I tried just a hammer on the LCA with the same amount of force with no luck on my '95 Honda Odyssey which is like a civic only larger suspension-wise. The pickle fork is free to rent so no probs there. And it works 'cause I tried it and I can swing a BFH to hit it without worrying about hitting other stuff down there.

 

No, no....
Remove the knuckle from the lca, using the ratchet method.
I almost guarnatee you will not separate anything with the fork...in fact, you'll probably break it (the fork) and have to buy it.

 

i took the knuckle off and used a 2 ft long pipe to the balljoint that i hit with a BFH. It came out with about 6-7 solid hits.

 

Press it out. Surely you know someone with a shop press. It took us longer to situate the knuckle than it did to actually press it out. Hell, I'm friends with a guy local to me and he let me use his for free. I'm ghetto in some ways but using a BFH to fix things on the car isn't my cup of tea.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No, no....
Remove the knuckle from the lca, using the ratchet method.
I almost guarnatee you will not separate anything with the fork...in fact, you'll probably break it (the fork) and have to buy it.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll give it a whirl.

 

I vote hammer it out but as previously stated you cannot get it back in without damaging either the ball joint (which will probably be damaged first) or you could run the risk of damaging the socket that it goes into. Basically if you're going to have to take the car/knuckle to press it in anyway, you might as well save the time and frustration and take it to them to press it out.

 

Short answer:
Yes, you can hammer the front lower ball joint out but use an appropriately-sized socket or rent the Honda press adapter set (OEMTOOLS Honda adapter set, part no. 27164) from Autozone and use the correct adapter. Remove the rubber boot from the ball joint (it just pulls off), apply the socket or adapter to the base of the ball joint, and hammer the socket or adapter to push the ball joint out.

On my 1997 Honda Civic Lx, I removed the 32 mm hub nut, separated the tie rod ball joint, separated the front lower ball joint, removed the axle from the transmission (this was the main job), removed two 10 mm brake line support bracket bolts, removed the two 17 mm front caliper mounting bracket bolts, removed the caliper body, supported the caliper body with a plastic bag (I didn't have any string or wire), flipped the knuckle around 180 degrees with the knuckle still attached to the upper ball joint, and then hammered out the lower ball joint from below.

Suggestion:
You'll need a heavy 3 or 4 lb metal hammer. In my case, it took at least a dozen or so strong whacks.

You can also press in the front lower ball joint with a hammer but use an appropriately-sized socket or adapter that only touches the outer rim of the top of the ball joint. I hammered in an aftermarket lower ball joint using this method with the knuckle still attached to the upper ball joint, and I haven't noticed any problems (yet).

Suggestion:
Use a wire brush or similar abrasive material to thoroughly clean the knuckle where the ball joint presses in.

Tip:
The original Honda front lower ball joint on my 1997 Honda Civic Lx was press-fit into the knuckle. It does not use a circle clip to prevent the ball joint from separating from the knuckle. Most aftermarket front lower ball joints come with a circle clip. Make sure to properly install the circle clip after pressing in the aftermarket lower ball joint.
I accidentally damaged the threads on the original Honda front lower ball joint (left) when I improperly used a ball joint separator. I should have left the castle nut on the stub. The aftermarket front lower ball joint is on the right and you can see a groove where the circle clip fits in.

Flip the entire knuckle 180 degrees around to gain access to the front lower ball joint.

Support the brake caliper with wire or string. I had neither so I used a plastic bag.

Remove two 10 mm bolts for the brake line support bracket (before the front caliper is removed from the rotor).

Remove the two 17 mm front caliper mounting bracket bolts (before removing the caliper from the rotor).

Rent the socket (adapters) from a local auto parts store. The larger one is used to hammer-out the front lower ball joint. The smaller one is used to hammer-in the new ball joint.

Make sure the circle clip is fully seated in the groove. Using circle clip pliers makes the job easier.